Savin' Me
by pray for hope
Summary: oneshot She was eating when she first heard the voice. Help me….warning: character death. please R


A/N: this is sorta based on the song Savin' me by Nickleback. the female character doesn't have a name, so you can fill in the blanks.

Show me what it's like  
To be the last one standing  
And teach me wrong from right  
And I'll show you what I can be  
Say it for me  
Say it to me  
And I'll leave this life behind me  
Say it if it's worth saving me  
Hurry I'm fallin'

Say it for me   
Say it to me  
And I'll leave this life behind me  
Say it if it's worth saving me

She was eating when she first heard the voice.

_"Help me…."_

She looked up, startled by the disembodied whisper from somewhere. Nobody, however, was in the Underground hideout's dining room besides her. Then again..

_"Help… me…"_

This time, she recognized the voice.

"Jak?"

_"….Help…"_

She stood up, the wooden chair behind her crashing to the floor. All she could hear was the sound of her own heartbeat. She whispered again to the empty room.

"Jak?"

This time, no reply. But she knew. She knew.

She tore from the room, calling for Torn. He appeared from the barracks, hair messed and an annoyed look on his face.

"What." he demanded

"Jak. Where is he?"

For a second, Torn only stared at her, unable to answer. He simply stared, with his mouth partly open.

"Where. Is. Jak." It was no longer a question.

Torn recovered his voice. "Outside the city. He and Dax went to go check up on some Metalhead deliveries. Why?"

But she could no longer hear him. She was already out the door.

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The city gate was too far to reach on foot, she realized halfway through her breathless run. She'd need a zoomer.

She grabbed the nearest one, fingers curling around the handlebars, beyond caring about whom she had taken it from, beyond caring about anything but trying to get to Jak in time. And trying to forget what she had said to him that morning.

_"God, Jak, leave it." her voice rose in volume._

_"C'mon, say it." he smirked._

_"Jak. Cut it out."_

_" Say it. You know you want to."_

_She slammed the pot she was holding onto the table and whorled around._

_"Jak. I said to leave it."_

_"You don't mean that. Just answer the question."_

_"Fine. No."_

_His face fell. She stood firm, the table digging into her back. Finally, he turned and walked through the door. She turned back to the table, roughly wiping the tears from her cheeks when she the whisper from the doorway._

_"I know you. That's not your answer."_

_Without turning around she said, "Then you don't know me at all."_

The gates couldn't open fast enough. She sped through the doorway, barely slowing down to register the dead bodies of Metalheads around her. She followed the trail, her fingers fumbling for her gun. The turns came and she took them blindly, gun nearly slipping several times. Then, the trail ended and she saw them.

There were ten or fifteen Metalheads in a circle, leaning over something in the middle. Through a gap between two of them, she saw him. Jak was cradling something in his arm, while shooting erratically with the other. His hand fell, and a flash of orange fur was revealed. Daxter.

Before she realized what was happening, one of the Metalheads took its weapon and smashed it into Jak's head. He swayed woozily and dropped to the ground, blood already matting his blond hair, Daxter still cradled in his hand.

Rage and an overwhelming amount of grief stole over her. She was firing her gun before she realized she had stopped the zoomer. The Metalheads turned and roared at her, some already charging. But as she raised her gun and fired, many dropped to the ground, while the others tripped over their dead companions. They were dead as they stumbled, her gun ripping through them. Then, silence, save for the sound of her own hard breathing.

She ran blindly to Jak, dropping the gun and to her knees simultaneously. Her fingers fumbled for his neck, praying to feel a pulse. His heart beat sluggishly against her fingertips. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Her hands moved to his shoulders, shaking him lightly.

"Jak."

He didn't move. She shook him harder, her voice more insistent.

"Jak. Wake up."

His eyes fluttered open.

"Jak. It's me. Wake up."

His eyes focused. Jak was staring at her. Then, his lips moved.

"Dax. Where's…. Dax."

She laughed shakily. Her hands slipped from his shoulders, groping for Dax's warm little body. All she felt was coldness.

The smile slipped off her face. She turned over Jak's hand. Daxter was lying in his palm. He wasn't breathing.

The tears stung her eyes. She ran one nail down his tiny Ottsel chest. He looked peaceful, more so than he ever had in life. His eyes were closed and his lips were pulled into a smile. Not a cocky grin, but a soft, sad smile. The tears slipped down her cheeks.

" Oh, Jak….I…. I'm… so sorry."

He turned his head from her, his body shaking with sobs. His hand closed over his best friend's body, and brought it to his heaving chest. Tears ran down her own cheeks, dripping onto Jak's hair.

Then the sobs stopped. The hand holding Daxter slipped back to his side. His breathing slowed. She watched him through tear-soaked eyelashes. Her own hand found his and clutched it.

"Jak."

He didn't respond.

She placed her mouth near his ear.

"Jak. Please."

Nothing. The tears started again, more than ever, slipping down her face.

"Jak. Please don't go. Please don't leave me here. Jak, I need you. Jak… I know it's hard. But please… don't leave me. I…. I love you."

As the words she'd never thought she'd say left her lips, Jak let out a long, slow breath. His head rolled towards her and his lips curled into a smile. Then, his hand slipped from hers. She lowered her head onto the one man's chest she'd ever loved and cried.

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When she returned to the hideout, it was raining. It soaked through her clothes and hair, plastering it to her forehead. She struggled with Jak, trying to lift him from the zoomer. The ride had been perilous coming back. She had nearly dropped Daxter's body several times while trying to balance Jak in front of her.

Exhausted, her arms dropped to her sides. She tried to get Jak up, but he wouldn't move. One hand found his neck and pressed her fingers against the faint heartbeat. She dropped to her knees.

She couldn't take it anymore. She shut her eyes, trying to block out the last six hours. Seemingly far away, she heard boots on the wooden stairs and someone calling her. Her lips parted to answer, but nothing came out. She could feel herself falling backwards, into time and space….

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Cold. Bitter cold lashed through her bones, numbing her to the very core. Someone pressed a warm cloth to her forehead.

"Jak?" she breathed, surprised at how painful it was.

The person said nothing.

Sometime later, she tried to open her eyes. They focused on the bottom of a bunk, before flickering shut again.

"She doesn't look too good."

"She has a cold, that's all. She'll be fine in a little bit."

"Have you ever heard of a virus that lays you up in bed for more than four days?"

"Not that I know of. But she was only out there for, like, two minutes."

"Plus driving time."

" So what, a hour?"

"Maybe more."

She moistened her lips and whispered." Jak?"

Silence.

She tried again. "Where's…..Jak…"

A big, warm hand was laid on her forehead.

"I'm sorry, cherry," Sig said, almost hesitantly," Jak's dead. He died yesterday."

A single breath left her lips. "No…not….Jak."

"I'm so sorry, chili pepper."

She let go at that point, grief turning her mad.

"No," she rasped," Not Jak. I….I still….I still…need him…I…love him."

She lost the ability to speak shortly after. She could open her eyes, but her hearing came in bursts. She lost all mobility and had to be carried to relieve herself. Sig was the one who mostly helped her. Torn sometimes came in, but she could see in his eyes that it broke his heart to see her so helpless. No one else in the Underground was allowed to see her.

One stormy night, while Sig leaned over her in the bunk, her voice came back.

"Sig.."

He jerked, nearly hitting his head on the bottom of the top bunk.

"What, cherry?"

"I…loved….him…"

"I know you did, cher-" Sig started, but she cut him off.

"I….failed….him… "

"No, cherry, no," Sig said.

"Now…I…go….to him…"

As she rasped her last words, her head slipped to one side. Sig felt her heart give one pulsating shudder and die. He moved his mouth close to her ear and whispered.

"He loved you because you saved him."


End file.
